Chaplain Insignia, 1880-1920s

Until 1880 U. S. Army chaplains had no insignia peculiar to their branch and were
distinguished only by their uniforms, which varied over time. Occasionally chaplains uniforms
included standard army headgear without insignia, or, after 1864, a hat or cap with the US in a
wreath prescribed for staff officers.1
Chaplains coats of 1864 were a plain black frock coat with standing collar; one row of
nine black buttons on the breast, with herring-bone of black braid around the buttons and
button-holes. This general description remained for several years although over time the coat
length shortened and the number of buttons reduced. Regulations of 1880 specifically called for
the coat to be undress and chaplains had no dress coat.2 Although not prescribed, the coat
buttons were frequently covered with black cloth.
In early 1880 the army announced a new and unique shoulder strap for chaplains. This first
special insignia for chaplains was a shoulder strap of black velvet, with a shepherds crook of
frosted silver on the center of the strap as shown.3

In May 1888
the army issued a
general order that
prescribed the coat
to be both dress
and undress but
eliminated the eight
year old shoulder
straps since the new
concept was for
chaplains to wear
4
plain clothing without any insignia. Chaplains continued with plain black coats without insignia
until May 1898, when the army noted that chaplains would have shoulder straps, this time of
dark blue cloth of the usual size and pattern with a plain Latin cross in the center.5

Most chaplains
wore unadorned hats
of the same pattern
as used in the field,
but in black. These
hats replace the
previous types of
headgear that had
included a plain
chapeau de bras for
ceremonies.6

By 1900 Chaplains were wearing a variety of uniforms, and with the December 1902
regulations that went into effect in 1903, several new insignia materialized. One chaplain
uniform that appeared at the end of the nineteenth century included a plain black five-button coat
with cloth covered buttons as shown in the National Archives picture below.

Chaplains could still wear the Civil War style nine-

button long coat or a double breasted frock coat with seven
buttons to a row as dress uniforms, or the undress five
button coat, to which the army added in January 1900, a
dark blue single breasted coat allowed for all officers. This
marked the first time chaplains wore a full standard officers
uniform. Chaplains collar insignia were only the gilt letters
U.S. while other officers added branch insignia. The
shoulder strap illustrated above went on the coat. With it
chaplains wore plain black trousers without any welt, cord,
or stripe.7
Finally at the end of December 1902, chaplains
received collar insignia and at the same time they began to
wear standard officer sack coats introduced in 1895. The
collar insignia reflected their assignment: Chaplains serving
with infantry and cavalry regiments wore the crossed arms
with the regimental number above and a small cross below.
Since that artillery underwent several reorganizations
between 1901 and the start of World War I, suffice it to say
that when the field artillery formed regiments in 1907, the
chaplains wore that appropriate insignia with regiment
number above and cross below. Otherwise chaplains
assigned to the artillery between 1903 and 1914 wore the
appropriate artillery insignia with only the cross below.
Some examples of these insignia are shown next.8
Given the variety of officers infantry, cavalry, and
various artillery insignia used between 1901 and 1914, it is worth exploring these basic insignia.
Between July 1901 and the phase out period that was the first six months of 1903, artillery
officers wore crossed stubby cannons with a solid bare scarlet oval in the centerthe device of
the Artillery Corps that Congress had created early in 1901. Since the phase-in of the chaplains
insignia was the same as the phase-out of the Artillery Corps insignia, it is doubtful of these were
worn, but that possibility cannot be ruled out.9
During the early 1903 artillery insignia phase-in, the army provided two insignia for each
part of the Artillery Corps: Coast artillery officers placed a shell on the central oval and field
artillery officers added a wheel. The key to identifying these 1903 insignia is that the cannons
were stubby, the same design used in the late nineteenth century. Since there were no artillery
regiments at this time, these insignia had no numbers in the upper angle. Each artillery unit was
designated either an artillery company, a designation reserved for coast artillery units
commanded by a captain, or an artillery battery, a designation reserved for field artillery units
commanded by a captain. Initially the coast artillery had companies 1 through 82 and the field
artillery had batteries 1 through 16 that came from redesignations of existing units, although the
army almost immediately created more companies and batteries. Artillery districts, which varied
in size and controlled an assortment of company sized units, performed the previous functions of
regimental headquarters.10

Since 1895 infantry officers had worn crossed club-stock muskets and during the initial
part of 1903 infantry chaplains added a cross in the lower intersection, as shown. At the same
time, cavalry officers had worn heavy sabers with hand guards that ran the length of the hand
grip. The 1903 chaplains insignia for the 8th Cavalry is depicted. It should be noted that
many types of metal insignia shown are very scarce and have been heavily reproduced for
collectors since the 1980s.
In December 1904 the army again announced redesigned collar insignia, so starting in 1905
many soldiers began to replace their branch insignia with more modern designs. The artillery
went to long, slender cannons while officers retained a central oval with a shell for the coast
artillery and with a wheel for the field artillery. A chaplains example is above.11

The infantry and cavalry likewise went to more modern looking weapons. Rifles changed
to longer, bolt action versions that lasted through World War I and cavalry sabers became thinner
and longer. These newer sabers had the hand guards closer to the
hilt and were usually solid, as opposed to the earlier versions that
were often, but not always, pierced.
In April 1907 the field artillery officers again changed their
insignia by eliminating the wheel at the cannons intersection (left),
which left the field artillery with the basic insignia used until the
1950s, while the coast artillery kept its crossed cannons with a shell
until its demise after World War II. 12 This change coincided with the establishment of the
armys initial six regiments of field artillery, although the regiments were smaller than those of
the infantry and cavalry. 13 The army added eight chaplains to support this reorganization, two
more for the coast artillery and one for each new field artillery regiment. This gave the army 67
chaplains, a level retained until the 1916 army expansion. 14
Previous to 1904 chaplains ranked as captains, but in that year they began to hold
commissions in grades of first lieutenant through major. Among chaplains debates took place
whether chaplains should wear rank insignia or not. Chaplain A. A. Pruden lead the charge to
establish the wear of rank insignia by chaplains and after ten years, on April 9, 1914, the War
Department directed that chaplains to begin wearing a plain silver Latin cross as their sole
branch insignia, replacing the crossed arms shown thus far, and rank insignia.15
Coat collar insignia were the U. S. letters in gold and behind that, a silver, one inch high
cross. While other officers wore bronze colored insignia on their service coat collar, chaplains
retained the silver cross. Like other officers, their rank went on the shoulder loops or on the
sleeve of the overcoat, full dress coat, mess jacket, and special evening coat. After the start of
World War I, chaplains began to wear bronze colored crosses that are more common that the
other insignia shown thus far.
Examples of chaplains insignia from 1914 and later are below. Left to right: Although
biographical, it is not known how this 1-3/4 inches high cross was worn. It is known some
chaplains wore large crosses on their overcoat sleeve, where other officers showed their rank
through special decorative knots. The cross with the engraved edge was made in France and is
1-1/4 inches high. Center is a one inch high cross. The silver cross is very slightly over 3/4 inch
high. The last cross was intended for the shirt collar and is 9/16 inch high.

During World War I General Pershing arranged for Bishop Charles H. Brent of the
Protestant Episcopal Church to be appointed as the Headquarters A.E.F. Chaplain. Brent was an
old friend who had baptized Pershing and his family. On February 27, 1918, Brent and Pershing
concluded that it would be better if chaplains did not wear their rank insignia as such insignia
made them less free and somewhat militaristic. The two men agreed that if chaplains did not
wear rank insignia, they would have better rapport with enlisted men. After consulting with
other bishops and other advisors, Pershing recommended to the War Department that chaplains
remove their rank insignia.16
 Two World War I chaplains. Left is an unidentified chaplain wearing rank on his shoulder
and branch insignia on collar, as prescribed in early 1918. Right is G. C Shurtz, chaplain of the
308th Engineer Regiment. The picture was taken in France on November 15, 1918. Shurtz
wears only U. S. insignia on his collar and crosses on his shoulder loops and cap, where other
officers wore their rank insignia. Both photos are from the National Archives. From May 1918
until March 1926 the armys policy was that chaplains wore the cross as their rank insignia.17
After the Civil War Jewish chaplains did not serve in the
army until World War I. Joining the army during World War I,
they objected to the cross. Initially the Secretary of War allowed
them to go without a branch insignia and in August 1918 Jewish
chaplains received as their insignia the law tablets and Star of
David. After World War I rabbis who were chaplains served only
in the National Guard and Organized Reserves until 1940. 18

Left is an early silver insignia for a Jewish chaplain of the

type established in 1918.
1
War Department, Adjutant Generals Office, General Orders 102, November 25, 1861; WD, AGO, GO 247, August
25, 1864.
2
WD, AGO, GO 247, August 25, 1864; WD, AGO, GO 92, October 26, 1872.
3
Headquarters of the Army, General Orders Number 10, dated February 13, 1880.
4
Earl F. Stover, Up From Handyman: The United States Army Chaplaincy, 1895-1920, Washington, DC: Office of the
Chief of Chaplains, 1977, p. 204.
5
HQA, AGO, GO 59, May 31, 1898.
6
WD, AGO, GO 102, op cit.
7
HQA, AGO, GO 2, Jan 6, 1900.
8
HQA, AGO, GO 132, December 31, 1902.
9
HQA, AGO, GO 98, July 25, 1901; HQA, AGO, GO 132, December 31, 1902; HQA, AGO, GO 9, February 6, 1901.
10
HQA, AGO, GO 15, Feb 13, 1901.
11
WD, GO 197, December 31, 1904, p. 24; Army and Navy Register, March 11, 1905, p. 5.
12
WD, GO 94, Apr 20, 1907.
13
WD, GO 118, May 31, 1907.
14
Stover, Op. Cit., p. 150.
15
Ibid., p 204-05; WD, Office of the Quartermaster General, Circular No. 5, April 9, 1914.
16
Stover, op. cit., pp 189, 205.
17
WD, Changes 4 to Special Regulations No. 41, May 22, 1918; WD, Circular No. 33, June 2, 1926, sec III.
18
William K. Emerson, Encyclopedia of United States Army Insignia and Uniforms. Norman, OK: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1996, p. 268; Roy J. Honeywell, Chaplains of the United States Army, Washington, DC: Office of
the Chief of Chaplains, 1958, p 179.